International
oi-Deepika S
Johnson
emerged
as
one
of
the
most
impassioned
Western
backers
of
Ukrainian
President
Volodymyr
Zelensky.
London,
Jan
30:
Former
United
Kingdom
Prime
Minister
Boris
Johnson
has
claimed
that
Russian
President
Vladimir
Putin
had
threatened
to
hit
Britain
with
a
missile
just
before
ordering
his
forces
to
invade
Ukraine.
The
apparent
threat
came
in
a
phone
call
just
ahead
of
the
invasion
on
February
24,
according
to
a
new
BBC
documentary
to
be
broadcast
on
Monday.
Johnson
and
other
Western
leaders
have
extended
support
to
Kyiv
to
show
support
for
Ukraine
and
try
to
deter
a
Russian
attack.
“He
sort
of
threatened
me
at
one
point
and
said,
‘Boris,
I
don’t
want
to
hurt
you,
but
with
a
missile,
it
would
only
take
a
minute’,
or
something
like
that,”
Johnson
quoted
Putin
as
saying.
Johnson
emerged
as
one
of
the
most
impassioned
Western
backers
of
Ukrainian
President
Volodymyr
Zelensky.
But
prior
to
the
invasion,
he
says
he
was
at
pains
to
tell
Putin
that
there
was
no
imminent
prospect
of
Ukraine
joining
NATO,
while
warning
him
that
any
invasion
would
mean
“more
NATO,
not
less
NATO”
on
Russia’s
borders.
“He
said,
‘Boris,
you
say
that
Ukraine
is
not
going
to
join
NATO
any
time
soon.
“‘What
is
any
time
soon?’ And
I
said,
‘well
it’s
not
going
to
join
NATO
for
the
foreseeable
future.
You
know
that
perfectly
well’.”
On
the
missile
threat,
Johnson
added:
“I
think
from
the
very
relaxed
tone
that
he
was
taking,
the
sort
of
air
of
detachment
that
he
seemed
to
have,
he
was
just
playing
along
with
my
attempts
to
get
him
to
negotiate.”
The
BBC
documentary
charts
the
growing
divide
between
the
Russian
leader
and
the
West
in
the
years
before
the
invasion
of
Ukraine.
It
also
features
Zelensky
reflecting
on
his
thwarted
ambitions
to
join
NATO
prior
to
Russia’s
attack.
“If
you
know
that
tomorrow
Russia
will
occupy
Ukraine,
why
don’t
you
give
me
something
today
I
can
stop
it
with?”
he
says.
“Or
if
you
can’t
give
it
to
me,
then
stop
it
yourself.”
Story first published: Monday, January 30, 2023, 8:55 [IST]